City waits for air quality tests on use of Council Chambers

By JOHN HOWELL
Posted 11/1/18

By JOHN HOWELL The hardwood floors of City Council Chambers are slightly cupped and there's some paint flaking from the ceiling. Gone are the dehumidifiers and fans that were placed strategically throughout the chambers up until Wednesday in response to

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City waits for air quality tests on use of Council Chambers

Posted

The hardwood floors of City Council Chambers are slightly cupped and there’s some paint flaking from the ceiling. Gone are the dehumidifiers and fans that were placed strategically throughout the chambers up until Wednesday in response to a sprinkler pipe that broke last week.

If you didn’t know what to look for, the chambers appear pretty much as it has always been.

But the administration isn’t giving the green light until it gets air quality test results. The concern is mold and mildew, said Mayor Joseph Solomon. If the results are positive, the administration will be faced with rescheduling or relocating meetings planned for the chambers and, worse yet, relocating personnel working in City Hall.

“It smells fine,” chief of staff William DePasquale said yesterday on entering the chambers. He expected test results would be available today.

Assuming they are negative, DePasquale said some board meetings such as planning and zoning could be held in a portion of the chambers while a section is roped off for painting and floor sanding. Other meetings could be held at either the police community room or at the Warwick Public Library, he suggested.

Solomon said he is more concerned by the health aspects of the building than its aesthetics. Having experienced the burst water pipe that forced evacuation of the City Hall Annex in January – those offices are now located in the former Greene School – the administration didn’t delay in reacting to this latest leak.

“We reacted very quickly. We jumped right on it,” said DePasquale.

He couldn’t say whether the sprinkler had had a slow leak prior to rupturing, but once it was discovered the system was immediately shut down. Repairs are being made to the pipe and the fire suppression system should be fully restored this week, he said.

The city will be filing an insurance claim for the cost of the damages.

Comments

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  • richardcorrente

    Hiring Bill DePasquale as Chief-of-Staff is still the smartest thing acting Mayor Joe Solomon has done. His quick and decisive moves very probably saved the Council and the taxpayers a fortune. We are fortunate he was at the helm when this almost-tragedy occurred.

    Happy November everyone.

    Rick Corrente

    The Taxpayers Mayor

    Thursday, November 1, 2018 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    Mr. DePasquale also served as chief of staff, along with city planner in 2014: http://warwickonline.com/stories/mayor-makes-staff-shifts,104194?

    Thus, the two-time election reject proves his inability to do basic research before making his 11th hour pandering statements, which follow nearly two months of calling Mayor Solomon a "political insider" who "bought votes" with this FY19 tax increase.

    Mayor Solomon did make a smart decision to bring Mr. DePasquale back into the chief of staff role -- and to stay as far away from the two-time election reject as he could before overwhelmingly defeating him in the Democratic primary.

    Honest, taxpaying voters are having a happy November knowing the two-time election reject is not on the ballot.

    Thursday, November 1, 2018 Report this

  • richardcorrente

    Dear CrickeeRaven,

    How does Bill DePasquale being one of the four Chiefs-of-Staff Mayor Avedisian had in fourteen months have ANYTHING to do with the complement I just gave him or whatever the hell you are complaining about. (Wasn't Mark Carruolo one of the four?) Hey, come to think about it, what ARE you complaining about? Never mind. Don't answer. I couldn't care less and neither does the reader.

    You anonymous coward of a critic.

    Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

    Rick Corrente

    The Taxpayers Mayor

    Thursday, November 1, 2018 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    "I couldn't care less..."

    And yet the two-time election reject continues to comment and exhibit his unhealthy obsession with a former chief of staff who left city employment in 2014.

    His opinion on Mayor Solomon is uninformed, and his continued whining will have no effect on anything.

    Thursday, November 1, 2018 Report this

  • Bob_Cushman

    Top 10 Additional Tests needed in the City of Warwick

    Number 10 - Fiscal aptitude test for all elected officials

    Number 9 - Accounting basics test for fire department top brass

    Number 8 - How to retire from one job after 20 years of work, get a near 6 figure pension and go to work in a sister city and get another 6 figure salary all without a college degree test

    Number 7 - How to all but destroy a school system over ten years by level funding it and using constant annual tax increases to fund unsustainable city spending test.

    Number 6 - Conflict of interest test for all School Committee Candidates

    Number 5 - How the political hacks on the Warwick Sewer Authority board of director oversaw a decade worth of sewer projects that are millions over budget and cost residents over $20 thousand to hook up to the system test.

    Number 4 - How to give away hundreds of thousand of dollars in benefits through illegal side agreements that no one knows about accept for the top city lawyer test

    Number 3 - How the City Council Finance committee celebrates saving $500 on an item while doing nothing on items increasing by million each year test.

    Number 2 - How a person can all but bankrupt a City in 18 years, oversaw a $75 million scandal at RI Resource recover, oversaw millions of dollars missing at RIPEC and then gets a cushy 6 figure salary job at the same agency and hires all his buddies to come work with him test

    DUMP ROLLLLLLLLL .................................................

    AND THE NUMBER 1 ADDITIONAL TEST THAT IS NEEDED IN THE CITY OF WARWICK

    A Lie detector test for Mayoral candidate Sue Stenhouse with about 2 boxes of paper to record the results.

    Friday, November 2, 2018 Report this

  • KaptainMorgan

    So Bob...... Does this mean Sue isn't getting your vote?

    You probably won't even get dressed up and go to comicon with her this weekend

    Friday, November 2, 2018 Report this

  • richardcorrente

    Dear Bob_Cushman,

    All of your "tests" were worth reading but didn't you mean "DRUM ROLE" not "DUMP..."?

    Damn spell check doesn't work if you accidentally spell a proper word.

    Happy Thanksgiving Bob.

    Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

    Rick Corrente

    The Taxpayers Mayor

    Saturday, November 3, 2018 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    Even in correcting someone else, the two-time election reject fails.

    The correct term is "drum roll."

    Sunday, November 4, 2018 Report this

  • Bob_Cushman

    https://www.google.com/search?q=drum+roll&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari#imgrc=HPsuTgGVWNBq8M:

    It's Drum Roll

    Sunday, November 4, 2018 Report this